Come Back

The actors who arrived first were guided to the rooftop garden. On the cool autumn evening, they were planning to enjoy a barbecue while watching a rare movie recommended by Director Kang Woo-hyun on an outdoor screen.

Yoon Hye-an arrived at the underground parking lot about five minutes before the scheduled time.

After guiding the guests, Lee Hae-seong, who had already come down from the rooftop to wait, saw Yoon Hye-an on the intercom screen and opened the door for him.

When Manager Kang, who had gone to greet Yoon Hye-an at the elevator, returned with him to the reception room, Lee Hae-seong, who had been sitting on the sofa, put down his tea and stood up.

“Thank you for coming. I was worried you might decline.”

“Thank you for inviting me. This is… nothing much, but I feel bad coming empty-handed…”

Nervously, Yoon Hye-an handed him a small bouquet. For a moment, Lee Hae-seong looked down at the modest bouquet inside a square paper bag before accepting it and handing it to Manager Kang.

“You didn’t have to worry about something like this. I’ll take it. Please, have a seat here for a moment.”

As Lee Hae-seong pointed to the sofa set, Yoon Hye-an’s face clearly showed his discomfort. It was probably because no other actors were around, even though he expected most of them to have arrived by now.

While sitting down first, Lee Hae-seong explained.

“The others are on the rooftop.”

“……”

“I invited you at a different time because I wanted to talk to you alone before everyone else.”

Slowly removing the crossbody bag from his chest, Yoon Hye-an sat down uneasily, his face showing anxiety. He barely perched on the edge of the sofa, as if ready to run at any moment.

“What would you like to drink?”

“Just water, thank you.”

Looking up at Manager Kang, Yoon Hye-an answered while tightly gripping the strap of his bag, which was placed beside him.

Yoon Hye-an, as seen in the videos Lee Hae-seong had watched, seemed like a completely different person in terms of behavior.

On variety shows with his group members, Yoon Hye-an never smiled, even on screen, maintaining a passive, almost uncooperative attitude. His demeanor, along with subtitles, was often portrayed as chic or quirky.

Interviews during his acting career weren’t much different. Perhaps they aimed for a quiet and refined image, but for a newcomer with little experience, his emotionless face and lackluster attitude seemed insincere. His dancing, singing, and acting skills were all subpar.

To fans, Yoon Hye-an was a “dignified princess,” but to the overwhelming majority online, he was a “rude actor with an attitude.” After reviewing the series of videos, Lee Hae-seong’s impression of him was more aligned with the latter.

However, the Yoon Hye-an in front of Lee Hae-seong now was far from that “dignified princess.”

With his limited movements, nervously shifting gaze, and tightly pressed lips, his behavior was very different from what Lee Hae-seong had expected.

Manager Kang returned with water from the small kitchen at the back of the reception room, and Lee Hae-seong sent him back inside so that he and Yoon Hye-an could be alone.

As Lee Hae-seong quietly observed every move of Yoon Hye-an, he finally spoke.

“Anyway, we’re going to work together on this project, but before we do, I want to clarify a few things with you. I really want this film to be well-made.”

“……”

“You want that too, don’t you, Yoon Hye-an?”

“…Yes.”

After a brief hesitation, Yoon Hye-an’s response was quite different from the bold and daring reply Lee Hae-seong had expected. However, anyone could easily put on such a façade.

Lee Hae-seong, calmly and in his usual somewhat soft voice, began to express the thoughts he had been wanting to share.

“I went to ‘Jessica.’”

‘Jessica’ was the bar in Daehangno where Song Hyun-su worked. At the mention of the name, Yoon Hye-an clearly showed some agitation.

“From your reaction, it seems like you didn’t think the word would reach my ears.”

“I happened to stop by there.”

As expected, that was the answer. Without getting surprised or raising his voice, Lee Hae-seong moved on to the next question.

“Why were you crying in Director Kang’s reception room?”

“Personally… I received some bad news, and I was looking for a place to be alone…”

Hmm.

Lee Hae-seong pressed his lips together and let out a heavy sigh.

“So, are you telling me that all of that had nothing to do with Choi Hong-seo?”

“……”

Yoon Hye-an stubbornly kept his mouth shut, avoiding Lee Hae-seong’s gaze with a downcast expression like a child who had been scolded.

According to Manager Kang’s report, Yoon Hye-an was a celebrity who sought out sponsors on his own. If a better sponsor came along, he would abandon the current one and switch. Based on the image he projected, Yoon Hye-an in the videos appeared to be the kind of person who would behave that way.

But in person, he didn’t seem like the type to use his body for gain. Manager Kang’s report wasn’t a tabloid filled with unverified rumors. Every detail in the report was true. Yet, the Yoon Hye-an before Lee Hae-seong now didn’t have the vulgarity typical of such people.

However, this was all just about image. Lee Hae-seong had lived a life that wasn’t so simple as to judge people purely based on their outward impressions.

“Yoon Hye-an.”

Yoon Hye-an, who had been looking down at the teacups and teapot on the table, slowly met Lee Hae-seong’s gaze.

“As you probably know from the last incident—or perhaps you already knew before that.”

“……”

“Choi Hong-seo was a very important person to me.”

Lee Hae-seong didn’t want to talk about such things with someone like Yoon Hye-an, who had no connection to it. The memories of Choi Hong-seo could no longer expand. He didn’t want to share them with anyone, fearing that even a little piece of it might be taken away.

So, with much difficulty, Lee Hae-seong continued the painful conversation. He stared directly at Yoon Hye-an’s innocent face, the face of someone who knew nothing.

“However, now I can never see him again. The process and the reasons why we can’t meet are things that are so painful and angering, I can’t even put them into words… Do you understand?”

Yoon Hye-an nodded slightly.

“When you go through something like that, anyone would want to protect the people they care about. They can’t help but get angry at anyone who tries to invade their memories and copy their actions.”

His voice was growing more agitated. Lee Hae-seong clenched his fist on the armrest. He paused for a moment and took a sip of tea. But it wasn’t enough, so he reached for a cigarette.

He pulled one from the pack, lit it with a lighter, and took a deep drag until his cheek hollowed out, exhaling the smoke with a sigh. Yoon Hye-an stared at him intently with wide eyes.

Did he want to smoke too? Lee Hae-seong raised his eyebrows, offering the open cigarette pack to him, but Yoon Hye-an firmly shook his head.

After taking a few more puffs to calm his emotions, Lee Hae-seong continued his prepared words.

“You must have learned about what happened between Choi Hong-seo and ARA’s Lee Hae-seong from somewhere.”

Through the thin smoke rising from his cigarette, Yoon Hye-an watched intently, waiting for him to continue.

“And then you applied for the *Cream Mansion* audition, trying to imitate Choi Hong-seo’s habits, and you chose the Anton Chekhov play that Choi Hong-seo performed in front of me for your audition. You also went to his memorial hall. To visit the memorial hall of someone you didn’t even have a personal connection with—based on my research, I don’t think you’re the type of person who’s driven by sentimentality. At the film’s first dinner, when Director Kang asked what film had made an impression on you, you answered *Love Story*. After that, you were staring blankly at the Seoul cityscape from Namsan Soweol-ro. And in Director Kang’s reception room, on the second floor of that vast mansion, you intentionally went to the space as if it were somehow special to you… and you were crying there, waiting for me to notice.”

“……”

“Is my scenario wrong?”

The cigarette, which Lee Hae-seong had not smoked during the long conversation, was burning down between his fingers. He pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose and flicked the gray ash away.

To prevent his emotions from overflowing, Lee Hae-seong deliberately kept his tone even stiffer than usual. In Director Kang’s reception room, he had lost his composure when facing Yoon Hye-an without preparation, but this time, he wanted to wrap things up properly.

He no longer wanted to waste time or expend any more emotions on this matter.

Whoever it was, whatever the reason, he wanted to leave Choi Hong-seo alone.

He wanted their affair to remain just between the two of them. He only wanted to quietly fade away, immersed in the memories with him, without anyone else knowing. Was that too much to ask for?

Yoon Hye-an, who hadn’t touched the water that Manager Kang had prepared, gripped his bag strap tightly and quietly spoke.

“You said you investigated me. You said I’m not the kind of person who would visit the memorial hall of someone I don’t even know because I’m not sentimental.”

“……”

“Then, do you think someone like me, whom you investigated, would really be able to act so… meticulously?”

Yoon Hye-an, who had been staring at the gray ash in the ashtray, now turned his gaze to Lee Hae-seong.

“Would I really go so far as to wait for you, create a situation, even when I don’t know if you’d show up or not?”

His large, moist eyes with long eyelashes didn’t seem capable of lying. He must have lived his life gaining substantial benefits with this face. If he shed sweet tears and asked for trust, everyone would likely be fooled. His face was innocent to the point of seeming pure.

It was entirely different from the arrogant expression of Yoon Hye-an in the videos. It was like watching an actor playing both the role of a villain and a saint in different works.

*“Actually, when I saw him in person, he really did resemble Hong-seo. Maybe that’s why… he doesn’t seem like that trashy person they said he was.”*

Suddenly, the words that Song Hyun-su had said came to mind. He didn’t want to admit that he was remembering those words while looking at Yoon Hye-an’s face. But maybe, even these expressions were all part of trying to imitate Choi Hong-seo.

Trying to drown out the noisy thoughts in his mind, Lee Hae-seong took a deep drag from his cigarette, and without revealing any sign of disturbance, he answered Yoon Hye-an’s question.